If I took out a magnifying glass, came over to you and to your house and to your life and to your family
and applied that magnifying glass to you, what would be the biggest things in your life?
If you went through my life about 10 years ago, the biggest things in my life were probably martial arts.
I loved martial arts. I did martial arts. I watched martial art movies. I would talk about it.
I would argue about which martial art was the best. I have strong opinions about that.
We can fight later. That's okay. Not literally. It's okay.
It was important. It was what I was focused on and it was a very large part of my life.
And then I had kids and the martial arts kind of had to be pushed to one side.
The kids became one of the biggest things in my life.
If you stopped in any vicinity near me, I would tell you stories about them.
I would show you photos. I would tell you how funny and cute and silly and how amazing they are at all these kinds of things.
What is your life focused on?
If I took that magnifying glass to your life, what would be the biggest things in your life?
Is it your family? Your friends? Health? Education? Your loves? Your passions? Your hobbies?
When people think about you, what is the first kind of image?
You know, when people are thinking and planning what to get you for Christmas,
I'm hoping there's somebody thinking and planning to get you something for Christmas.
What are they thinking?
Are they thinking, you know, that Tom, do you know what?
He really needs an ugly Christmas sweater.
You know, he really needs Kanye West's new album.
You know, that man needs these things.
What do people think about when they think of us?
What have we turned our lives towards so that when people see us, they see this as the biggest part of our lives?
We all have things in our lives that we magnify because they make us who we are.
They give us meaning and significance.
We can feel valued because I have a job.
I'm the guy who loves martial arts.
I'm the guy with these three kids.
Now, I'm not that unique.
I've got kids.
I'm not that unique.
I'm not unique in that I was into martial arts.
But how do we decide about the things that we choose to magnify in our lives?
How do we decide?
Do we actually sit down and think, I'm going to be this type of person?
Or do we just stumble into magnifying certain things in our lives?
And so if we all do it, a question that we need to ask is, why this thing?
Am I chasing this because it brings me significance?
Is this really what should define who I am?
It's Christmas time.
I'm excited for Christmas.
Is anybody else excited for Christmas?
I'm really enjoying singing with you today, particularly that end of amazing grace where it was just our voices.
It was a delight to sing with you.
And so this season, we're going to spend a little bit of time looking at some of the songs in the lead up to Christmas.
Today, we're looking at a song known as the Magnificat.
It's Mary's song.
And in this song, Mary calls us to make God the largest in our lives.
To magnify him.
All because of God's grace towards us.
This 15-year-old girl living in a backwater town is going to challenge us to make God the biggest thing in our lives.
As we are loved by him, let that be what defines us as people.
So as we have a look at this song, let me pray for us.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, that we can be gathering, that we can be singing with our voices loudly in praise to you.
Father, as we consider the things that we magnify in our lives, Father, be placing that magnifying glass on us.
Fill us with your spirit, that we would carefully consider what we value in our lives, so that we can value you more and more.
Amen.
We meet up with Mary in the Christmas story after she is pregnant with Jesus.
She has visited her cousin, Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist.
And Elizabeth calls her blessed because she carries Jesus in her womb.
She's been chosen by God to carry Jesus.
And responding to all that God has already done in her life, choosing her to carry Jesus, she sings a song.
So please have your Bibles open.
Please be bringing your Bible with you.
Have your phone.
If your phone is a distraction, make sure you put it on airplane mode.
Turn off notifications that might ding in the middle to distract you.
And we're in Luke chapter 1.
Mary sings,
Mary starts by singing with all that she is.
She sings with her soul and her spirit.
She is singing from the very depths of herself.
This is not just a polite,
I thank you God for letting me be the mother of Jesus.
But she praises God from the beginning of this song with all that she has to the very depths of her being.
And she glorifies the Lord.
Now I don't often dive too deep into the original words in the Bible,
but I found one word fascinating in this study.
The word for glorify comes from the Greek word megaluni.
There's your new Greek word of the day, megaluni,
which is this idea of magnifying, making something mega.
Megaluni, to make something mega.
And it was translated into Latin as magnificat.
And so that is where we get the name for this song from, magnificat.
And so Mary sings,
wanting to megaluni,
to magnify,
to make God mega
with the very depths of her soul.
But while we have the word magnify here,
this is not like a magnifying glass.
A magnifying glass takes something that is small
and makes it larger.
It megalunizes it.
It makes it bigger before our eyes.
If you remember being a kid with a magnifying glass,
I would always point it at ants,
much to my shame.
And all of a sudden,
this tiny thing would become expanded in your view.
But that is not what Mary is doing.
She is not wanting to make the small God bigger before her.
God is infinite.
He is already mega.
Mary is reflecting on how great he is,
how majestic and awesome.
And she wants God to be mega in her life.
But why?
Why?
Why should God be the biggest thing in Mary's life?
As a young, pregnant, unmarried woman,
there are many other big priorities in her life.
Getting married to Joseph,
building a house,
having food,
having some stability in life.
She's just about to be a new mom.
And I know what it's like to be a new dad,
and that's hard enough.
New mom,
trying to take care of God himself.
There are all kinds of big pressures on her life,
calling to be the most important thing.
And yet,
she wants God to be the biggest.
God to be mega in her life.
She wants God to be the biggest.
God is what she wants her entire life to magnify.
And that's all because Mary is self-aware.
She knows who she is,
and she knows who God is.
And she knows which of these two really should be the biggest.
Mary is rejoiced in God, my Savior.
She doesn't see herself as the offspring of immaculate conception.
Mary doesn't see that she's perfect,
because only a sinner needs a Savior.
But her song also comes from a place of questioning.
God, I want you to be the biggest thing in my life,
but why me?
Of all people.
Verse 48.
He has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on,
all generations will call me blessed,
for the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
Mary is just another young girl,
in a backwater town,
in a captive nation.
And yet God chose the unworthy.
He was mindful of her.
God has taken out the magnifying glass,
and he zoomed in on this young girl.
The God of the infinite universe,
who is holding all things together by his will,
causing the sun to rise and to set,
holding gravity,
and listening to billions of hearts beat at the same time.
This great God has this young,
insignificant girl in his mind.
God has lifted her up out of obscurity.
And so Mary wants to magnify this God in her life,
to make him mega,
because of God's grace to her.
Grace.
God's unmerited love and favor.
That he would not only be mindful of her,
but that he would choose to give her a crucial role
in the plans for salvation of the world.
This is a song of unmerited grace.
Verse 50,
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
She knows her place before God.
This song reveals her humility,
and her lowliness.
And these are both marks of somebody who has stood before God,
fully aware of their sins,
what they deserve,
and how they have received mercy.
She knows that she deserves nothing good from God.
Can you imagine if she was the opposite?
Can you imagine that if Mary was expecting good things from God?
You see that over-inflated person who is full of pride,
where they have become mega in their own eyes.
Can you imagine if Mary had said,
Oh yeah, no, I actually deserve to be the mother of Jesus.
I am going to be the best mother of Jesus.
I'm going to be better than anybody.
You've picked me,
and you're lucky you picked me,
because I'm going to really fix up this whole Israel situation.
God, I deserve your favor.
When we see this kind of arrogance and pride,
it is distasteful.
We can find it repugnant.
Who is this person to speak like that?
And yet we can also struggle to sing a song like Mary's,
where we ask that question,
Who am I before you, Lord,
that you would choose to have favor on me?
At some level,
we can struggle thinking that we deserve good from God.
Mary's song calls us to be in awe of God's gift,
especially because we don't deserve it.
Why would you save me?
God, why have you been mindful of me?
God, you are mighty,
but why are you mighty for me?
Verse 49,
It's not a full stop there.
He has done great things for me,
this little person.
One of my favorite things to do in life
is to look at the stars.
Anybody else enjoy looking at the stars?
I really struggle living in a city looking at the stars,
because there is so much light pollution,
that you look at the stars and it's like,
Oh, look,
I can see five stars tonight.
You know,
I don't know what God was talking about with Abraham.
I can count these stars right now.
One of my favorite things to do
is when I get out of the city
and get far away to actually,
you know,
late at night,
to look at the sky
and just to stand in awe
at the stars.
The reality is
that those stars are all around us right now.
I just can't see it.
And even now,
I can't see it
because there's too much light from the sun.
This awesome and powerful
and mega luni,
this mega God,
is around us at all times.
And he focuses on us.
He is mindful of us
and that Jesus died for us
and yet,
so often,
we can miss out on seeing this
because there is so much pollution around us.
Not light pollution,
but busyness.
Our eyes can be deceived by our own sin.
But Mary's song is a reminder
that God knows us.
He is mindful of us.
And we need to continue to sing this song to our hearts.
To actually take time
to cast our eyes to God,
to go out to the country
as we would,
to look at the stars,
to actually take a moment
and be in awe of God's bigness.
That God would make
this universe,
and we can only see a speck of it,
that it would go on
for infinity.
But God has that much love
for us.
to take a moment
and think,
this God
of the universe,
he is mindful of me.
That Jesus died for me.
That not only is he mighty,
but he is mighty
for you.
How much then
should we want to magnify
this God in our souls?
God's grace causes Mary
to want to magnify him
because he has been
mindful of us.
Mary continues to sing
about how great this God is,
that he lifts up the lowly
and not just those
who are full of pride,
not just the rich,
not just those
who are mega
in their own eyes.
And we see Mary singing
of the justice
that God brings.
This God is great.
He isn't biased.
He treats the lowly
and humble with love
and grace.
He lifts them up.
And now Mary sings
of what God does
with those
who see themselves
as great.
Verse 51.
He has performed
mighty deeds
with his arm.
He has scattered
those who are proud
in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down
rulers from their thrones,
but has lifted up
the humble.
He has filled
the hungry
with good things,
but has sent
the rich away empty.
God scatters
those who are proud
in their inmost thoughts.
Pride
competes
with God
for glory.
It's a competition
for who is going
to be the greatest.
Pride in our hearts
refuses to acknowledge
that God is sovereign.
And especially
when our eyes
are clouded
with the light pollution
of busyness
and sin
to see God
as great,
pride fills us up.
And when we are
full of pride,
our lives look different.
Mary is singing
comparing
what is going
on in her heart.
She is making God
the greatest
in her soul
and spirit,
whereas the pride
of others
is filling up
their hearts.
The hidden places
magnify themselves.
We all battle it.
We all can have
an inflated sense
of what we deserve.
I think about Christmas.
I've had a number
of conversations
with people
in my own family,
with friends,
about expectations
of what Christmas
Day will look like.
Which family
do we go and see?
What do we do
on Christmas Day?
When do we do presents?
Who's making the food?
Who's making the roast?
Who's bringing this?
And it is just
a time that is fraught
with pride
and comparison.
I have this expectation.
I have to do this.
It has to look like this
or Christmas
will not be great.
It can be a time
of pride
where we think
I am the greatest
and it has to look
like this.
But God
hates pride.
He has lifted up Mary.
She knew her humble
place before God
and yet God
scatters the proud.
It's an act
of judgment.
God did it
when mankind
got ahead of themselves
and built themselves
up quite literally
into the tower
of Babel.
Full of pride
they thought
they could ascend
to heaven
and yet God
scattered them.
When Israel
was full of pride
and thought that
Jerusalem would
never fall
and they continued
to sin against him
God scattered
Israel.
God brings down
those who are wise
in their own eyes.
He sends away
those who are rich.
the call
of Christmas
is our desperate
need for God
to save us.
And he had to
directly intervene
in that situation.
God had to take
off his Godhood
his divinity
and become
a person
to limit himself
to become
a humble man.
And if we attempt
to make ourselves
greater than him
we'll have no part
in his salvation.
The powerful
and wealthy
are inclined
to pride
so God
sends them
away empty.
We continue
to see this
in the world
today how
world leaders
and government
officials
indulge in
luxury.
They give grants
to each other
and money.
They swell
with pride
and can be
intoxicated
with the spoils
of their prosperity.
And Mary sings
that God brings
down those rulers
from their thrones
but she also
calls us
to see
that God
is the greatest
that he should
be the one
that is magnified.
It can seem
like the world
runs on riches
and people's money
but Mary reminds us
that God
is actually sovereign.
God is actually
in control
over all of these.
The great
and rich
and powerful
face the temptation
to lift themselves
up to praise
themselves before God
but this is not
just for those
on thrones
and those
who are mega rich.
Mary's call
is for us
to be hyper aware
to be on guard
that we don't
chase these things
to.
Mary's hymn
is a song
of the powerless
and not the proud.
It's a song
not of expectations
but God's
unexpected grace.
In this whole song
God is the one
who is the subject
of all the verbs.
God is the one
who does the actions.
God is the one
who acts.
Just have a look
with me.
Flick through it
with me.
God is the saviour.
God is mindful
of his servants.
God is the mighty one
who does great things.
God is the one
who extends mercy.
God is the one
who performs
mighty deeds.
God brings down rulers.
God lifts up
the humble.
God fills the hungry.
God sends away
the rich.
God is the one
who helps his servant.
God is the one
who acts.
God is the one
who acts.
God is the one
who acts.
God is the one
who acts.
All religions
in the world
are about what
we do
but the story
of Christmas
reminds us
that it is about
what God has done.
It's not about
what we do
whether I have to be
meditating
to give up
worldly attachments,
act in the right way
to please God
or continue
to go to temple
or church,
follow the right
cultic practices,
to be the sinner
who has to go
from low to high,
from sinner to saint.
Mary's song
flips all that.
Flips the cultural
expectations,
the social expectations.
God is the one
who acts.
He sees our needs
and he starts
a revolution
that reorders reality.
The highest of highs
the great
and mighty God
intercedes
for the lowest
of low,
this young woman
and calls
her blessed.
God ignores
those on thrones,
those who are rich
and important
and he is mindful
of the humble
and lowly.
The almighty
restructures
cosmic reality
for the
un-mighty.
The God
of the magnificent
stands with the
small and weak
and he magnifies
them.
This Christmas,
let's not move
too quickly past
Mary's amazement
that God
would choose her.
God had spent
centuries preparing
for the day
when Jesus would
come and now
he's going to
save the world
using an un-married
young girl.
Mary's words
in that song
should be ours.
He has been
humble of the
mindful state
of his servant.
He has been
mindful of me,
the great one
has done
great things
for me.
He has not
just done
good,
not even
great,
but mighty
things for
me
and for you.
How can we
get to Christmas
and not sit
in this note
of joy
and astonishment
that God
would choose
to bless
me,
that he would
choose to
bless you?
we should
all be like
Mary,
amazed that
God would
work in
us.
We are like
Mary.
Mary literally
received Christ
and carried
Christ in
her,
but for
everyone who
puts faith
in Jesus,
we are like
Mary in
that we
receive Jesus
by the Holy
Spirit and we
carry him
with us.
we should
be floored
that God
would give
us with
all our
smallness
and our
flaws
and our
issues of
pride
this great
gift.
We should
never move
too far
from this
astonishment.
This is the
heart of the
Christian gospel,
that God
would have
grace that
he would
choose me.
When we
are astonished
by this
grace,
it kills
our pride.
it kills
our demands
of God.
It kills
our religious
doing of
things to
please God
and we
are left
in awe
and surprise
and wonder.
Let me
encourage you
to go out
into the
country this
week.
Now I
don't literally
mean go
and find,
go for a
drive out to
Orange or
something,
unless of
course you'd
like to do
that.
Find a
patch before
Christmas.
Find a
place to
sit and
be in
awe of
the God
of the
universe.
To prepare
our hearts
for Christmas,
the reminder
that Jesus
would come,
that God
has done
mighty
things for
me.
So that
we can
magnify
God.
This
Christmas
let's
magnify
God in
our lives,
not just
to have
a nativity
scene in
a small
corner of
the house,
but to
have
Jesus
front and
center in
our lives.
Have you
ever set
something on
fire with
a magnifying
glass?
I know I
certainly
have.
I kind of
feel I need
to go and
find another
magnifying
glass and
show my
kids how
it works.
I don't
necessarily
want to
start a
bushfire in
summer.
There's just
something
satisfying about
starting a
fight.
Anyway,
I can talk
about that
later.
But a
magnifying
glass in
and of
itself,
it has
no power,
no fire,
no flame,
no light
in itself.
But when
you take
that magnifying
glass and
you turn it
on the
right angle,
it magnifies
the sun's
rays and
it ignites.
It causes
a reaction.
Brothers and
sisters,
we have no
power on
our own,
but we
are like
a magnifying
glass in
God's
hands that
he uses to
focus and
direct his
power.
This
Christmas,
as we face
the temptation
to pride,
to greed,
to high
expectations,
let me
call you
to let
God be
the greatest
thing in
your life.
When we
do that,
when we
allow God
to be the
biggest in
our life,
God turns
us to
be like
him.
When we
turn our
face to
him,
God uses
us to
focus his
power through
and so
that when
people see
us,
they don't
just see a
person who
likes martial
arts or a
person who
has three
kids that he
also likes,
but people
see the
great God
of the
universe
and that
it would
cause a
reaction in
people's
hearts,
that love
would flow
out from
us,
mercy and
God's
grace would
extend through
us because
we get the
chance to
magnify the
great God
of the
world.
Turn away
from the
things that
trap us,
turn to
God so
that he
would be
magnified in
us and
through us
to all the
people around
us.
Let me
pray.
Dear
Heavenly
Father,
we thank
you so
much,
Lord,
that you
would be
mindful of
us,
that you
have done
great things
in your
Son,
that because
of Jesus
we can
see your
unmerited
and undeserved
grace.
Heavenly
Father,
as we
head towards
Christmas,
end of
year and
all of the
busy things
that come,
Father,
we ask
that we
would turn
our face
to you,
that you
would be
magnified in
us and
through us
for your
glory.
We ask
this in
Jesus' name.
Amen.